Brent Batten: Final EOC cost $56 million, not $38 million cited in 2007

Take a look inside the new Collier County Emergency Services Center, which is built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. Public officials attended the structure's grand opening ceremony held on Thursday, May 28.

There are some big numbers associated with the new Collier County Emergency Operations Center unveiled Thursday.

111,000 _ the air-conditioned square footage of the building.

112,000 _ cubic yards of fill the center is built on.

90 _ miles of communication cable.

7,852 _ cubic yards of concrete.

2010 _ tons of reinforcing rebar.

But there's one number, $18 million, you won't find on a county-issued fact sheet.

That's the difference in the $38 million estimate discussed by county commissioners two years ago and the finished price of $56 million reported at Thursday's ribbon-cutting.

County officials most closely connected to the project were unfazed by the difference, chalking it up to a variety of factors, including changes to make the structure sturdier and the cost of outfitting the high-tech nerve center that wouldn't have been included in a construction estimate.

Dan Summers, the county's emergency management director, said when county commissioners were shown a $38 million cost for the building in April 2007, that figure was just for construction, with millions of additional costs to come.

He couldn't provide specific numbers Friday, but said the final cost was at or under the guaranteed maximum bid agreed to with Kraft Construction.

"We got good value. We're at or under (the contract price) or else I'd be looking for a job maybe," Summers said.

He noted that the Collier County facility closely mirrors the cost of a similar 109,000-square-foot center built in Manatee County two years ago for $55 million.

One factor in driving up the cost of the Collier EOC, ironically, was a $3 million FEMA grant to help pay to elevate the structure to withstand even a worst-case scenario flood. The grant didn't cover the full cost of the elevation but the decision was made to spend extra to do it in an abundance of caution.

Similarly, federal and state grants didn't fully cover the cost of hardening the building to withstand a category 5 hurricane. The county made up the difference, considering it the best option, Summers said.

When commissioners talked about a $38 million EOC in 2007, they were omitting mention of designs, permits, impact fees and equipment, which all cost extra.

"In retrospect, we probably should have said, ‘OK, what is it going to cost to get this thing to work,"' Commissioner Fred Coyle said Friday. "We're not always that smart."

The final price of the total project was in line with the 2007 estimate of $55.6 million, a figure provided to county commissioners on backup documents in 2007.

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One more number associated with Thursdays's event _ 30.

That's the number of days County Manager Jim Mudd said doctors told him he had to live in March, when they discovered a tumor in his brain.

Mudd related the story to the crowd that had offered him a standing ovation as he took the podium before the ribbon-cutting. "It is indeed a pleasure to see each and every one of you today," Mudd said smiling, some two months after that grim diagnosis.